


the unraveling [it begins]

by crickets



Category: Lost
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-08-08
Updated: 2010-08-07
Packaged: 2017-10-20 04:11:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/208597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crickets/pseuds/crickets





	the unraveling [it begins]

Richard stands a few feet away from the derelict statue.

His mouth is dry and his heart pounds in his throat.

Suddenly, Alex stands beside him, as if she just strolled up from the beach, as if she were more than an apparition.

"Hey," she says, and Richard is always surprised at how well Esau gets it. The mannerisms, the tone of voice. The little details always startle him -- the curl of her hair, the marks on her skin, freckles and scars, the way she stands.

"You're dead," he reminds her. "I buried you." Absently, he rubs his fingers together, can still feel the blisters the unforgiving shovel left behind.

"Yeah well," Alex tells him, "it's not like that matters."

"What do you want?" Richard looks over at her, and it's hard to force his voice to rise to the level he wants it to when it's Alex that he's talking to. It's hard to be stern and stubborn and impatient with her, despite knowing she's just an illusion.

"You're still having doubts," she says. "I can see that."

"No," Richard tells her, shakes his head. "You're wrong."

Alex takes his hand, and even though he knows it's a lie, he lets her. He lets her, but only long enough to feel the weight of her hand in his and then he pulls away from her roughly.

"Go away," he tells her, quietly, angrily, almost under his breath.

Alex laughs, and this is where Esau gets it wrong.

"Suit yourself," she says with a shrug. "Tell Jacob I said hello."

And then she's gone.

 _She was never really there in the first place_.

 _-fin_


End file.
